The principles of CQB are simple enough. L-Shape Intersection: High-Low. The German military, in essence, changed the rules. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to keep control of the hallway from the get-go?
These skills must be mastered before you can be trusted to use weapons in close proximity to other people. Thus, the attacking force only destroys the city building by building while its ultimate goal, to eliminate the enemy, is not achieved. A very broad combination of doctrinal change, risk acceptance, an instant and shared operational picture, and experimentation would be required to attempt swarming by dismounted soldiers. Success is based off the team surprising any bad guys as they enter. When these changes are sufficiently transformational, military scholars call them revolutions in military affairs (RMAs). While this is true, there have definitely been some consistent trends in close quarters battle (CQB) tactics that have developed over the course of the last two decades of war. The "rules" of city attacks define the character of urban warfare today. Two-person close quarters tactics pdf online. With the evolution of maneuver warfare and new technologies such as the tank, airplane, and improved military communications, the advantages of occupying a trench-line defense were substantially negated and was seen less. After the publication of the Single-Person Close Quarters Battle manual, a large number of readers requested more information on two-person tactics. If there is a threat shooting at them from the center of the room, wouldn't it make sense for the number one guy to try to take him out as he enters? In the 2017 Battle of Marawi, Philippine troops constructed giant slingshots (they called them angry birds) to launch grenades into second-, third-, and higher-story windows. The corollary to this is the biggest disadvantage for the attacking force: that it can be seen and engaged by the defenders at will.
In real life—especially if you lose the element of surprise—the enemy will probably be occupying rooms in small groups. To be sure, digging a tunnel big enough to pass enough troops through would take time and resources. Many urban defenders, like the Chechen fighters during the 1994–95 Battle of Grozny, can employ a mobile defense whereby they move small elements around interconnected firing points and ammo caches, using tunnels between positions, to defeat a superior military force. There is no mention of how the presence of tunnels could be used to the attacker's advantage—to cover movement, for instance, or to ensure surprise. 5 Best Videos for Learning CQB Tactics. They value technologies such as satellite and aerial reconnaissance tools, precision-guided munitions, and long-range artillery. Unfortunately, in the modern era, these are few.
Another tactic is to reduce or eliminate the exposure of attacking soldiers in streets and alleys by going through the interior walls of the buildings in a city. Books and Publications –. Cities are full of structures that are ideal for military defense purposes. Each enemy-held building halts the forward movement of the attacking force. US Army doctrine and training overemphasizes subterranean operations like the ability to clear tunnels.
The tactic has merit and could be refined with technology, but also risks escalating to destructive tactics such as driving tanks and bulldozers through buildings, as happened when Israeli forces were operating in Jenin, also in 2002, which can lead to the flattening of entire blocks and produce effects similar to those of aerial bombardments. Today, the advantages provided to a weaker force to occupy urban terrain are great. Principles of close quarters combat. I've included videos from guys with Delta Force/ CAG backgrounds, as well as videos from SEAL Team 6, properly known as Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). Air mobility, or the use of aircraft to insert forces, and close air support are usually limited during attacks due to the degraded ISR in dense urban terrain and vulnerability of slow and low-flying air assets, as seen during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.
When I was done, the team leader brought his men on a walk-through of the shoot house, pointing out all the target locations to his men. Amazon Kindle e-Books. To truly change this rule, attackers would have to be able to rapidly manipulate the urban terrain to their advantage. I'm not going to go super in depth about this topic. Today an operator is once more a person who answers the phone when you punch zero. If CQB is being conducted correctly and the building is being swarmed by half a dozen four-man teams, it's not such a big issue. Two-person close quarters tactics pdf 2019. They use guerrilla tactics to attack and then disappear back into the urban terrain. Every time a bad guy sticks his head out of a room to try to shoot the team, he'll have a lethal surprise waiting for him. But for military units, the idea that the enemy will conveniently spread out their force in one-man increments throughout the building is incorrect. This is even more so in urban terrain where many of the physical structures offer immediate military-quality defensive positions for the defender. Many scholars have recognized the growing likelihood of urban military operations in the future. Learning CQB is much like learning a language.
Contemporary Security PolicyRedesigning Land Forces for Wars Amongst the People. Delayed (deliberate) entry. The Eight Rules of Urban Warfare and Why We Must Work to Change Them. The course can be used by individual learners, or by instructors in a classroom environment. While executing their attack plan for the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Soviet forces shined over 140 massive searchlights at the outskirts of the urban terrain while also heavily bombarding the defenders with artillery to provide cover while their soldiers crossed open areas and potential kill zones—a reduction in tactical risk. He served twenty-five years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. I offer the following, not in order of priority, as there can be no hierarchy of principles. For example, if you have a hallway with five rooms along it, that's five times the team will have to refight to gain dominance of the hallway.
And they can canalize attacking militaries to ambush sites or down roads filled with booby traps and improvised explosive devices. How Harvard Business School Made This Navy SEAL a Better Leader. Why rush into a room when bullets can get there a lot faster? They can pick and choose which buildings, windows, alleyways, or sewer holes to hide in without any worry of being discovered. Not buying this yet? If you want to read some interesting research, highlighting experiments on different types of room entries, then check out this article. This course and the associated training manual were developed by a team of experts with extensive special operations and law-enforcement experience. Recent historical examples of city attacks in limited warfare where an attacking force attempted to kill the defenders or seize the city include: Hue, Vietnam: January 31 1968 to March 3, 1968. Sure, it can work while you still have the element of suprise, but eventually the bad guys know you're there, and they will start shooting back!
The procedures rely on intelligence, speed, and surprising the enemy in a confined space. If you are taking fire from a building or room, more than one bad guy is likely in it. What are the principles? Neither the attacker nor the defender can concentrate their forces against the other. Most advanced militaries prioritize maneuver warfare. Well, in full-blown urban combat, after you clear one or two rooms in a building, if there are more to clear, chances are the enemy now knows you are coming.
If you find that you're interested in taking a class on this topic, make sure that you can at least qualify with this pistol standard. But whether it's a fast or slow pie off, it should permit the shooting of any readily visible threats prior to entry—regardless of how deep into the room they may be standing. Speed: speed compliments surprise nicely, in that if you have achieved effective surprise, speed will ensure that the enemy never recovers from the element of surprise. They will also argue that the principles, characteristics, or general considerations for any deliberate attack will apply to a city attack just as it would in open terrain. A city attack is not a mission against a single building.
But the type of building and presence of or proximity to noncombatants or protected sites may prevent the complete flattening of an enemy-held structure. As long as the defense provides a weaker force measurable advantages to get to a piece of terrain first and then establish a defense, it will do so. During the final day of training, students will receive detailed lessons on team level emergency action and deliberate action assault planning, preparation and execution. No matter how fast a team might be able to enter and flow into a room, it's not fast enough to outpace AK bullets being fired from waiting and prepared insurgents.
Doing so would leave an enemy capable of attacking the advancing unit's flanks and rear. These platforms not only protect ground soldiers but also increase the firepower they bring to a fight. As far as this former operator is concerned, "What's in a word? " In 2014 and 2015 rebel fighters in Syria dug tunnels over three thousand feet long in just fifty days with hand tools alone. Clear Without Entry: Introduction. In his seminal work, On War, the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote, "In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards. " But the evolution of advanced siege tactics, gunpowder, and ultimately rifled artillery caused the strategy of defending from behind walls to all but disappear from war. If you're conducting a hostage rescue, the hostage's life has priority over yours, and so you will do dangerous things, that would be inappropriate in other contexts.
Countless duels go to make up war, but a picture of it as a whole can be formed by imagining a pair of wrestlers. Squad Level Military Urban Combat. The method relies on all four members of the team entering the room almost simultaneously, flooding the room with assaulters, with crisscrossing sectors of fire covering all threats. This course can be formatted through the use of live fire in ballistic shoot house facilities or using Reality Based Training, Role Players and Non Lethal Training Ammunition.
Multiple Rooms: Introduction. They are also limited in what they can see through. The steel rebar support of most concrete structures prevents most forms of radar penetration. Large government, office, or industrial buildings are often made of thick, steel-reinforced concrete that make them nearly impervious to many military weapons. For much of ancient history and up until to the nineteenth century, defending from behind walls—whether in cities, castles, or purpose-built star-shaped fortresses—provided massive advantages. In reality, by not dominating the hallway—meaning maintaining security down it—you are giving the bad guys control of the situation. I set up targets in one of our shooting houses. I don't expect that most of you will ever do this. They can connect battle positions with routes through and under buildings. They will not know exactly where enemy forces are until they have closed the distance and made contact with them.
I hope this article helped you learn some CQB tactics. Non-Lethal Training Ammunition. Many militaries are investing in robotic platforms and drones that can maneuver in advance of ground forces to increase an attacker's capability to see in and around buildings.